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If you are like me Social Networks has become a daily part of your life. Therefore, it is also a daily part of the lives of Recruiters, HR people and companies Hiring Managers. In fact according to a 2017 CareerBuilder survey, 70 percent of employers use social media to screen candidates before making a hiring decision, and 57 percent of hiring managers are less likely to interview someone they can’t find online.

So what can you do to utilize Social Media to find your next job?

Let’s look at some of the do’s and don’ts of two of the biggest: Linkedin and Facebook.

You could say Linkedin is like attending an online business conference and networking with all your colleagues and Facebook is the internet version of attending a big party with all your friends and their friends and their friends, friends and networking with them.

Let’s start with Linkedin

Your Linkedin profile should mirror your resume: If your resume is missing jobs on it that your linkedin profile includes it can seem confusing to employers.

Linkedin is a multi-media platform. Where ever you can use it as such. Post you blogs, videos and dress it up. Be professional but be upbeat and dynamic.

Get Recommendations from other professionals: Positive statements from people you work for or work with can help you immensely in establishing credibility to people viewing your profile.

Connect to as many people as you can. Unless someone is obviously a fake connection connect with them it can only increase your network and ability to reach other possible connections.

When connecting to new people don’t just send the generic message send a personalized message. If they are possible employers mention your interest in their company.

Use other people’s social media profiles to research them before an interview.

Join linkedin groups that are relevant to your job search and companies you want to work for.

If your currently employed and not wanting all your connections to know you are potentially looking for new opportunities suddenly completely updating your Linkedin profile and broadcasting it to all your connections may not be the best thing.

To handle this on your LinkedIn home page, click on your profile picture or icon in the upper right-hand corner of the screen. An Accounts & Settings drop down menu will appear. Select Privacy and Settings from that menu. Click on Turn on/off activity

Now let’s look at Facebook

Utilizing Facebook in your Job Search is all about showing people what you want and not showing them what you don’t want.

To start with make sure Facebook is not damaging your image. Be sure to delete or untag yourself from any questionable posts or pictures. Once your page is scrubbed clean, you should ensure you’re only posting appropriate content.

Though It is important to use privacy settings for personal information, you need to keep some information public such as your employment information, location and professional skills so you can be searchable to hiring managers.

Engage with industry leaders and portray yourself as a thought leader on all social media platforms. To do this this on Facebook is by commenting and contributing to industry-specific Facebook groups.

These are but two Social Media options for your job search. There are of course many others. But to get a new job you will definitely need to do this:

The difference is that you are the product and your skills are what you are marketing.

If I send in my resume to a company for a position as a customer service representative and on my resume it says I am seeking a position as a Sales Manager, I am marketing to the wrong demographic.

This would be like trying to market hearing aids to 16 year old’s.

If you are applying for a specific job you need to include in your resume that you are interested in that specific job.

Usually this would be within your summary.

An example might be:

I am a Customer Service specialist with 15 years experience in assisting clients to better understand my companies products and services seeking a position as a Customer Service Representative where I can use my excellent skills in negotiation and problem resolution to help expand an organization.

If you read this resume it is very clear you are seeking a Customer Service job.

Now just like a Marketing Promo Piece you need to explain why they should buy your products or services.

Or in the case of a resume why they should hire you for the job.

You do this by supporting your claims that you are a skilled customer service person.

By listing your accomplishments that reflect your customer service skills.

I call these your “David Letterman Top 10 accomplishments”, because like David Letterman you list them by what is the most relevant accomplishment first.

Then the other accomplishments are less and less relevant as you progress down to number 10.

The number 1 accomplishment might be:

Saved the company $10,000 by winning back a disgruntled client.

Here is the big question then:

Do I have to customize my resume for every job I apply for”?

The answer is:

Yes. If you really want the job.

But if you do it right you don’t have to rewrite your resume for every job you apply to.

Way Up is a site that focuses on jobs for newly graduated or current students.

Another way to find an internship is through your own Network.

Your friends, family, church or social networks. By saying “hey I am looking for an internship” you basically saying I am looking to work for free or for less than people you usually hire to get some experience.

Now that is a pretty compelling offer to someone who may need help but doesn’t have a budget to hire someone fulltime or Long-term.

Here are a few pieces of advice I would suggest to you in your internship search.

-Be flexible. Just as the ultimate job may not be readily available, the ultimate internship may not either. If Google is not available, then maybe doing Marketing for a chain of Grocery stores is.

-Treat an internship search as a job search. Put together a strategy, write a good resume, practice interviewing. Do all the things you would do if you were looking for a Career Job. Intern at looking for a job, the practice will do you good.

-Remember why you are looking for an internship, for experience. You took different classes in college to discover what career you wanted. You have dated different people to find the person you want to marry. Treat internships the same way, don’t be too afraid to make a mistake.

You never know that summer internship you took just to get some experience, could turn into the career job of your dreams!

When I was working as a headhunter one of the key questions I would ask an employer when taking a job order was what is the “Road Map” or “Career Path” of this role?

If my candidate takes this role when can they be considered for promotion?

What are the next steps in the role? What opportunities will he have in 1,2,3,5 or even 10 years down the road.

If you are interviewing for a position, this is a question you need to ask.

I have asked these questions to hiring managers when taking a job order with extremely varying answers.

Sometimes they spell it out very well.

“The reason this position has become available is that we promoted the person who was in it to manager and if he does well he can be promoted to Assistant Director and then Director.”

If you do well you could be a manager in a couple of years and on the same career path”

Sometimes it is not spelled out so well.

You ask: “what is the Career Path of this role?”

And the answer you receive is: “ I have several programmers who work for us and some have been with us for 20 years. This is a very stable company with lots of opportunities.”

What they are basically saying is there is no career path in this role. Which may be fine for maybe you are not looking for one. You have a skill, and you like doing it and do not see yourself as a Manager or a Director or Vice President someday.

But is you do aspire for a career path that moves you up to higher and higher levels in your career, somewhere in the interviewing process you need to ask “what is the career path of the job”.

What if you are already in a job and wondering what it will take to be promoted or to move to that next step and what the long-term future for you is at this company?

The first thing to do is take a personal assessment of what your career goals are.

Do I want to be a Manager, or Director or Vice President, or President or CEO

And if so does the company I work for have that possibility.

Here is what I would do.

Write down what your current job is. Title and duties or what you do.

Then write up what job you hope to be doing in 1 year. Also with a Title and duties.

Then 2 years, and 5 years and even 10 years.

Now evaluate the current company you are in and see if you can see yourself doing these roles 1, 2, 3,5 and 10 years down the road.

If not it’s OK. Maybe the opportunity in this company will only get you to Manager and after 3 years that will be as far as you go.

Does that mean you need to immediately start looking for a new position?

Not necessarily, but it does mean if you hope to move up the corporate ladder within 3 years you will need to find another role.

But at least now you have a plan and a Career Path and Roadmap on how to get there!